


Lessons of Life & Death

by theprincessed



Series: Robron Week 2018 [6]
Category: Emmerdale
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ambiguous/Open Ending, M/M, Personification of Death, Robron Week 2018, Temporary Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-30
Updated: 2018-03-30
Packaged: 2019-04-15 00:33:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14148027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theprincessed/pseuds/theprincessed
Summary: Instead of living to tell the tale, Robert dies when Lawrence White runs him over on Christmas Eve.There's consequences for taking a life. An eye for an eye perhaps. But what does that have to do with Aaron Dingle?(Set post-Christmas 2017 -Meet Joe BlackAU for Day 6)





	Lessons of Life & Death

**Author's Note:**

> Hiya! This is a weird one for Robron Week 2018 on tumblr - Day 6: AU. It'd take me ages to do a full fic, so this is just a flavour of an AU like this.
> 
> Like I said, weird. I'll put the other days up sometime this weekend.
> 
> But I hope you enjoy anyway x

Aaron sits at the bar in The Woolpack having a catch up with Chas. He's brought Liv for her tea, it easier right now to get Marlon to make them something to keep them going as they try to get back to normal. He can tell Chas is worried and wants to probe into what he's thinking, her stare hoping to encourage him to open up. He knows she won't let him enjoy a pint in peace until she has something out of him, so he meets her gaze pointedly and raises his eyebrows, mocking.

She sighs, leaning over with her arms folded. “Are you happy?”

It's not quite what he expected, considering the circumstances. “What? Mum, how can you ask me that?”

“I don't mean – I wasn't talking about - ” she flounders helplessly then looks over her shoulder at Liv sat in a booth, chatting with Alex. “I meant with him. Does Alex make you happy?”

Aaron feels himself grip his pint glass tighter and tries to breathe through the slew of emotions that have been running through him since the news broke. “My ex-husband's been dead less than a week and you want to check in with my new boyfriend?” he snaps anyway, sick of her doe-eyed looks and everyone else's for that matter, probably gossiping about how he feels now that Robert's gone and he's “moved on” with his new man.

It had rocked the whole village when the Whites had shuffled in, looking drained and still shell-shocked as the pub held Christmas midday drinks for a few punters, although to be honest most of them were family. Charity had made a joke of it, asked why the long faces and that's when he'd said it for the first time – he'd knocked Robert over in his car. It was an accident, Robert was drunk and Lawrence didn't see him until his eyes were shining in the beam of the headlights, wide and stunned. Hotten General had done everything they could to save him, but Robert died from his injuries. Of course the police wanted to know details, bring Lawrence in for questioning, but Aaron doesn't remember much more than that. He knew something was wrong when Chas _and_ Paddy had asked to see him alone in the backroom. At first, he thought one of them was ill and he was terrified because his parents and Liv were his world. When they gently confessed what Lawrence had said, the reflex was to not believe them, but their solemn faces told Aaron what he already knew. He could feel it deep down in his soul.

Robert was _dead_.

Despite their break up, the thought of never seeing him again or hearing his voice tore Aaron's heart to shreds. He tried to stop it, to squash down the feelings because Robert was in the past as far as he was concerned, but the finality of the situation in that moment threatened to open the floodgates. He got out of there before Chas or Paddy could see him cry. He'd half run home to the Mill and even that felt painful, the house's décor a reminder that Robert had once had a hand in what he saw before him. It was even worse because of a secret conversation they'd had, unusually just the two of them again, a few days prior to everything changing for good.

Aaron was working at the scrapyard to get the last of the work done before he shut up shop for Christmas and New Year. He and Robert had got pretty good at keeping out of each other's way, but Robert had opened the door and twitched, as if unsure whether to proceed.

“I need to – er - ”

Aaron plucked up the courage to wave his explanation away. “You work here too. It's fine, no need to tell me.” The _not anymore_ was silent and yet they both heard it, a look passing between them.

So, Robert came in and sat down before he realised he still had a parcel wrapped in shiny paper tucked under his arm. He stood and walked around to Aaron's desk, holding the parcel out. He must've seen the panic in Aaron's eyes because he offered it with a tiny smile. “Go on, it's for you for Christmas. I bought it before, y'know...everything. Seemed a shame to waste it.” He could see no other solution and Robert had backed off from quite so much arsehole behaviour recently, so Aaron reluctantly accepted it. “Don't open it yet though!” he added in a hurry. “Believe me, I'll know if ya do.” The joke eased the tension in the air and after another stuttered moment, Robert went to go back to his desk. He was a few steps away when he spun around again, but kept his eyes downcast. “Hey, um – I'm glad that you're happy. That's all I ever wanted for you really. If your heart is telling you that Alex is a good bet then that's what matters.”

Aaron blinked at him, surprised at his candour, and could do nothing more than nod, too choked with emotion. It felt like a first real step towards them finding another place in each other's lives somehow. He'd always held out hope that they could at least be friends because it's true what he said the last day he saw Robert as his husband - he'd always love him.

“Aaron, love?” Chas' voice filters through and Aaron realises he's been too deep in thought to hear the rest of her questions. 

“What? Sorry, yeah of course I'm happy. He wouldn't be here otherwise, would he?”

“I worry about you, that's all,” she says gently, giving him a slight smile. “But you're right, you know what you're doing and if your heart is with Alex now, well – things worked out for you in the end.”

_Alex is a good bet._

_Your heart is with Alex._

_Things worked out for you._

The words hit Aaron like a tonne of bricks. They sound so similar to what Robert had told him that day at the scrapyard, the day he gave Aaron a hoodie that he was oddly flattered by because it was so him. Robert knew him so well. Used to.

Again, the reality of Robert's death must make something flicker across his face because Chas reaches to touch his hand, but Aaron shrugs her off and stands up. “Leave it, Mum. I am happy, okay?”

Before she can say another word, Aaron takes his pint and stalks over to Liv and Alex, sitting next to his sister instead of his boyfriend. It doesn't mean anything. There's nothing to analyse. Robert is dead, Aaron is happy with somebody else, somebody kind and decent and exactly who he needs to be with. End of story.

\---

Lawrence is sat in his living room with a tumbler of his most expensive whiskey in his hand. It's dark with night and funnily enough it fits his mood, having been giving his statement to the police at the station all afternoon. He hadn't meant to kill anyone. Robert had come out of nowhere, swaying drunkenly and not paying enough attention to the road. It had been a horrifying experience for them all, but he hoped that the police would conclude that it was just an accident. Then they could move on.

Draining the amber dregs from his glass, Lawrence staggers to his feet either for another drink or to follow his daughters and grandson to bed. However, he doesn't get to make a decision as standing in front of him is Robert. He almost keels over from shock there and then as he hadn't heard the door open and surely – surely this isn't possible?

Robert smirks and steps forward so that a shaft of light from the risen moon highlights his face. “Rumours of my demise have been greatly exaggerated,” he says, before he chuckles. “Or, more accurately, this is just the form I took as I indulge in a little holiday.”

“What?” Lawrence gasps.

“Oh I think you know, Lawrence,” Robert chides. He walks around the room in a slow, measured manner, his fingertips grazing the furniture like he's never touched a sofa before. “The answers to your two questions are No and Yes, respectively. I'm not actually Robert and Yes, you're going to die.”

He turns sharply and Lawrence suddenly feels a throbbing pain in his head so intense it nearly brings him to his knees. He bodily knocks against the armchair and just about manages to put down the glass in his hand on the cart filled with spirits, the house quiet with ongoing sleep. Helplessly crouched, he squints up at the man who claims not to be Robert but who looks the spitting image of him. He will admit that there's an eerie stillness to him that he never had before and he has to know.

“If you're not Robert - who are you?”

Robert towers over his hunched form, staring hard into Lawrence's tired face. “Yes.”

“Yes what?” he pants, sweat beading on his forehead as the pain pulses in his skull.

“I'm - ”

“You're - ”

“Say it,”

“You're - ” Lawrence feels tears build in his eyes, reflected in the blue glassy gaze of Robert in front of him. He knows. “You're...Death.”

“I am,” Death nods, putting his hands behind his back and beginning to aimlessly, calmly walk around the room again. He's wearing Robert's clothes from the night Lawrence run him over. Every time he closes his eyes, he sees those clothes, his unconscious body barely holding on. “And I'm here to make a deal. You show me everything this place has to offer, you keep me interested, and I'll give you something in return.”

Giving up, Lawrence sits down hard on the floor, breathing heavily and holding his temples. “No more riddles, please. Just tell me.”

“Take me into the village and introduce me to Aaron Dingle.”

Lawrence laughs. “He thinks you're dead,”

“How many times?” Death sighs, “Robert IS dead. Besides, all you need to do is point him out to me. I'll take care of the rest.”

“Why?” Death fixes Lawrence with a glance of sarcasm that's so perfectly at home on Robert's borrowed face it's scary. “I don't mean 'why' – I'm not questioning you – but you said I'd get something in return for this,”

“Yes. Time. Time to get your affairs in order, time to say goodbye to your family. You see, Lawrence, you killed a man. So now you must pay the ultimate price.”

Death says no more than he ever needs to and a hush falls until Lawrence grunts. “Fine. I'll do it. Just leave my family out of it.”

“Gladly. They hold no interest for me yet. It's Aaron I want.”

“Robert sent you to Grim Reaper Aaron, did he?” Lawrence scoffs, shuffling back into his seat with a relieved groan. “Doesn't surprise me. He's always been selfish.”

“Aside from this childish vision of reaper that you speak of, Robert talked about Aaron a lot on our journey, yes. He didn't want to leave, but you – _you_ had already sealed his fate.” Lawrence felt a fainter ache in his head as Death pinned him to the chair with eyes as clear blue as a summer's sky. “Despite your low opinion of him, Robert doesn't know I'm here. I want to know why he made such a fuss when I had to take him. What's so special about Mr Aaron Dingle? And you, Lawrence White, _will_ help me find out.”

\---

The day after Chas' mirrored words of wisdom with Robert had freaked him out, Aaron has the morning to himself. Alex is doing another long shift at the hospital, Liv is out with Gerry no doubt causing mischief with Tip the dog and with no work to do, Aaron has just got up from a rather epic lie in. He's down the spiral staircase and into the kitchen to take out a frying pan to start a full English breakfast when there's a knock at the door. Most visitors to the Mill simply waltz in because the majority are family or nosy, disgruntled villagers, so the knock intrigues Aaron enough that instead of ignoring it and pretending he isn't home, he answers the door.

The sight in front of him steals his breath. “Robert? But – but this can't be happening, you're – you're - ”

Stood up straight and admiring the stained glass door, Robert tries to smirk. “It was a close call, yeah. So, I took a week to recover, got away for a bit, and now I'm back.”

Aaron finds he can barely speak. “Does Vic know?” he blurts out.

Distracted, Robert eventually nods. “Yes. Yes, she does.”

Confirmation that he's seen his family and it must've been a terrible mix up, Aaron doesn't think twice about letting him in. “Come in. I'm just making a fry up.” Aaron waits for the compliment that used to come, but Robert doesn't say anything else and he quickly remembers that they're not like that anymore. He turns towards the kitchen instead, to keep his hands busy as his heart pounds with the knowledge that Robert is here, he's real, he's alive.

_Things worked out for you._

_All that matters._

_Alex._

“Don't worry, Alex is at the hospital,” he says, pretending he doesn't know why that matters to either of them when his mind just helpfully reminded him of his boyfriend.

“Okay,” Robert replies, steadily walking around the open plan living area.

Aaron watches him for a moment; glad that things haven't changed irreversibly beyond his control. Maybe he and Robert can at least be friends. They have too much shared history not to try. He's out from behind the counter before he registers it himself. He feels drawn to Robert in a way he hasn't felt in a while, a strong pull like two magnets destined to attract. He suspects he's reacting to Robert not being dead.

“Hey,” he says awkwardly when he blocks Robert's path. “It's actually – it's so good to see you.”

Slightly on tiptoes, he puts his hand on the nape of Robert neck and hugs him tightly. Robert fits like he always did, even if his nose doesn't quite touch Aaron's shoulder and his spine is a little rigid, due to the fact that Aaron has barely touched him since he decided they had to split. It's a shock for both of them. As soon as he has him in his arms, Aaron is scared. It feels so right and it shouldn't. They're not together. He has Alex now.

But _Robert isn't dead_.

“Sorry, I know I shouldn't - ” he says, close to relieved tears. “I can't believe you're here. I know there's Alex, but - ” Robert's hand resting warmly on his lower back, tender and careful, makes him stop and breathe. They hold each other for a long moment, Robert remarkably steady and serene. Well, he's always been something of a rock for Aaron, even when he tried to deny his importance and the mutual feelings between them. He doesn't want to let go now. He lets a tear fall before he sniffs and tries to collect himself. “Yeah – um – I'm just glad you're alive.”

He manages to step backwards and Robert smiles closed-mouth, nodding once. “Thank you. It's good to be back.”

For Aaron, it stirs complicated feelings he'd put into a box with the intent of never opening them again, but he is glad and it is good to see Robert, standing in his living room like it's meant to be like this.

Maybe now things really will work out for the best.

 _Listen to your heart_.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, lovelies x
> 
> I'm on tumblr at [theprincessed](http://www.theprincessed.tumblr.com). Come chat to me. :)


End file.
